The Hackenblog

Everyone else can go to hell.

“Kennedy is also a lesbian who married her wife in the summer of 2008 when such marriages were legal, prior to the passage of Prop 8. While many LGBT couples and activists have to make complicated decisions about how to match their personal life to their politics, Kennedy’s decision to advise Arnold to veto the legislature’s legalization of same-sex marriage shows again her refusal to use her power to advance sensible and proper legislation that would help people, preferring to use it instead to advance corporate-friendly deals that hurt people:

“Although she calls herself “a thorn in the side” of a state that does not recognize gay marriage, she has advised both governors she’s served to veto bills that would have legalized it. Overturning the voters’ will would be politically damaging and legally and morally wrong, she argues.

“California doesn’t need technocrats who sit in Sacramento finding ways to cut stupid deals in support of bad policy that makes our problems worse instead of better. But in Susan Kennedy, that is exactly what we have. The flaws of the Davis and Schwarzenegger Administrations cannot be laid entirely at her feet – the chief executives bear the primary responsibility – but when the history of California’s collapse is written, Kennedy’s role in the disaster deserves a prominent place.”
Susan Kennedy and the Failure of Corporate Centrism, by Robert Cruickshank, Calitics, January 17, 2010
Sun Jan 17, 2010 at 08:59:20 AM PST

Susan Kennedy, meet Anne Marie Schubert.

Susan Kennedy and Anne Marie Schubert are two reasons why California isn’t a better place.

“‘Whether he got scared by the thunderstorm and jumped the fence, we don’t know,’ he (Animal Control Officer Justin Guzman) said.

The dog was never really swept away, but managed for the most part to maintain his footing on a slender ledge in the middle of the river, the officer said.”
Los Angeles firefighter recounts daring dog rescue, by Gale Holland, LA Times, January 22, 2010

I don’t write this news, I just blog it.

(I know y’all have been waiting years for dog stories on the Hackenblog, well, here they are.)

“Gay rights supporters in California say they have found an unlikely ally in Cindy McCain, the wife of Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who lent her name this week to the cause of same-sex marriage.

“McCain’s support comes as Proposition 8 proponents and opponents battle over the constitutionality of California’s ban on gay marriage in San Francisco federal court. The ad features McCain, right hand over her heart, wind rustling her blond locks, with ‘No H8′ written on her cheek and silver duct tape over her mouth.”
Prop. 8 opponents say they welcome Cindy McCain’s support of same-sex marriage, by Amina Khan, LA Times, January 22, 2010

Oh dear, I might have to rethink my opinion of Cindy McCain. If I had one.

“‘A year ago, this city was overrun with individuals — namely, gang members — who routinely used pit bulls and other potentially vicious dogs as tools of intimidation and violence,’ Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said in a statement.

“‘These individuals delighted in the danger these animals posed to our residents, often walking them without leashes and allowing them to run rampant through our neighborhoods and parks. Today, more than 1,100 of these animals have been removed from our city, along with the fear they create. Lancaster is now a great deal safer because of it.’

“Parris believes there is a correlation between the results of the dog ordinance and a drop in the city’s gang crime rate. Lancaster’s violent gang crime, which includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, fell by 45% last year, and there was a drop in overall gang crime by 41%, Parris said, citing statistics from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“Under the dog ordinance, a hearing officer can deem a dog to be potentially dangerous, for example, if the animal becomes aggressive when unprovoked. The dog can be impounded, and the owner must have it properly licensed, implanted with a microchip and vaccinated at his own cost before the animal’s release.

“Dogs deemed to be vicious can be destroyed if they are determined to be a significant threat to public safety, according to the ordinance.”
Lancaster’s dog ordinance is cited in helping to drive down gang crime, by Carlos Lozano, LA Times, January 21, 2010-01-23

I feel sorry for the dogs, but if those percentage drops are for real, this is something Los Angeles should give some thought to.

Full disclosure: Although I like dogs and had a Weimaraner as a kid (he was my best friend), the big ones kind of scare me.

And here’s a bonus scary dog story for y’all:

“Prosecutors said the verdicts amounted to justice for Whipple a lacrosse coach at St. Mary’s College who was mauled to death Jan. 26 2001 in the hall outside her apartment in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights.

“The prosecution argued and the jury agreed that Knoller and Noel had ample warning that the two 120-pound Presa Canario dogs they were keeping in their apartment down the hallway from Whipple were vicious ‘time bombs.’

“‘This could have happened any time’ jury foreman Don Newton said. ‘This is a dangerous situation set up by her and her husband’s actions that led to the death of Diane Whipple.’”
Why jury called it murder / Negligence deception cited in mauling trial, by Jaxon Van Derbeken, SF Chronicle, March 22, 2010

I still feel sorry for the dog, but I feel sorrier for the woman, and her friends and family, who was mauled to death.

embiggen

1. Willie Brown (?); 2. Tiger Woods (?); 3. ?; 4. ?; 5. Harpo; 6. Chico; 7. Groucho; 8. Gray Davis; 9. ?; 10. Gumby; 11. Ahnold; 12. Barbara Boxer; 13. Antonio Villaraigosa; 14. ?; 15. DiFi; 16. ?; 17. ?; 18. Ronald Reagan; 19. ?; 20. ?; 21. Phil Angelides (?); 22. ?; 23. ?; 24. ?; 25. ?; 26. ?; 27. Jerry Brown; 28. ?; 29. ?; 30. ?; 31. ?; 32. ?; 33. Mark Twain (?); 34. ?; 35. Joe Biden; 36. Barack Obama; 37. Tina Fey; 38. Michelle Obama; 39. Alfred E. Newman; 40. ?; 41. Lassie; 42. ?

Good blog, cute masthead, but who are most of these people? I just don’t get out enough.

“Phil Angelides, chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (and former California Treasurer [yay!]), saw a used-car salesman at work after listening to the pugnacious, arm-waving Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs (GS.N) describe his firm’s pre-meltdown practices.

“‘I’m just going to be blunt with you,’ he told Blankfein. ‘It sounds to me a little bit like selling a car with faulty brakes, then buying an insurance policy on the buyer of those cars. It doesn’t seem to me that’s a practice that inspires confidence in the market.’

“The bankers adopted a ‘mistakes-were-made’ posture while defending their pre-crisis methods as a product of the times and promising to do better since, as they admitted, the Federal Reserve has been watching them far more closely than the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Blankfein, pressed on whether his company would own up to ‘excessive risk’ practices, raised the notion of a rare season of dangerous hurricanes.

“Angelides shot him down.

“‘Having sat on the board of the California Earthquake Authority, acts of God (are) exempt. These were acts of men and women. These were controllable,’ he said.”
Metaphors flying at Wall Street bankers hearing, by Steve Holland, Reuters, January 13, 2010

Phil Angelides: my hero.

And “…selling a car with faulty brakes, then buying an insurance policy on the buyer of those cars” really sums up the old moral hazard issue right there, don’t it?

Homophobia all in one family:

“The lesbian sister of Proposition 8 mastermind Frank Schubert has announced her candidacy for Sacramento County Superior Court judge.

“At her campaign Web site, Anne Marie Schubert, a deputy district attorney for Sacramento County, promotes herself as a law and order and victim’s rights candidate with several endorsements from local law enforcement organizations.

“According to voter records, Anne Marie Schubert is a registered Republican. She has hired Gilliard Blanning, a conservative political consulting firm known for championing some of the state’s best known Republican candidates and causes, to run her campaign.

“Anne Marie Schubert, 45, doesn’t mention her family or sexual orientation on her campaign Web site. But Sacramento County tax records show that Anne Marie Schubert purchased her home with Julie Greenberg in March 2005, where the women live together raising two children. Frank Schubert told the Bay Area Reporter the two women are in a registered domestic partnership.

“‘She and Julie are in a domestic partnership, and they have two wonderful children,’ Frank Schubert said.”
Prop 8’s Schubert Supports Gay Sister’s Bid for Judge, by Dan Aiello, California Progress Report, January 5, 2010 (via)

Apparently (to me), Frank Schubert has decided if a domestic partnership is good enough for his sister, he’s going to shove it down everyone else’s throat. What an asshole. So now I really wonder, given the option to marry Julie, what would Anne Marie Schubert do?

(Sigh)

“In his interview with NBC’s David Gregory, Schwarzenegger dodged a question about what he would do if the federal government does not come up with extra money to help plug the state’s $20-billion budget gap.

“‘I never really think so much about the Option B, because that’s a loser’s attitude,’ Schwarzenegger answered, saying he would keep pushing until he succeeds.

“He neglected to tell the national television audience that he does have an Option B: a ‘trigger’ he included in his budget plan Friday under which he would eliminate the state programs providing welfare, children’s healthcare and home care for the elderly and disabled, among other cuts, if the federal government doesn’t come though. That plan is unlikely to be approved by state lawmakers, however.”
Governor chides California’s Congress members over federal money, by Michael Rothfeld in Sacramento and Richard Simon in Washington, LA Times, January 10, 2010

Oh my God, how much longer is this poltroon going to continue to pretend he’s governor of California? How much longer can we last with this bs?

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki) is jaw-droppingly brilliant, and how sad it’s the only Mikio Naruse film Netflix has on hand. Get more, Netflix, I know they’re out there.

Just fyi: don’t read anything about it before you watch it because all the stuff I read afterwards would have ruined some of it if I’d read it before watching the DVD. Refreshingly, Donald Ritiche’s commentary is not only insightful, but he manages not to be a jerk during it (or at least he didn’t piss me off like he usually does).

HIGHLY recommended.

Happy New Year, Authors, here we go again:

The Journal of Bloglandia
Selected blog essays

Storylandia
Fiction

Erotique
Hotchacha

I can be reached at editor @ wapshottpress.com (close the spaces).

Yours as ever,

Ginger Mayerson
Editor, The Wapshott Press
www.WapshottPress.com

“Chicago rats fed a diet of bacon, cheesecake, pound cake, Ho Hos, and sausage began to behave like rats addicted to heroin, and a Minnesota man pleaded guilty to driving a La-Z-Boy while intoxicated. China created a small black hole, and NASA revealed that a mysterious streak of light spotted by onlookers in the night sky above North America was a fortnight’s worth of astronaut urine. Physicists said that the aural jitters picked up by a German gravitational-wave detector may indicate that we all live in a giant and blurry cosmic hologram. The United States, searching for water, bombed the moon.”
Yearly Review, Harpers Magazine, December 31, 2009

Well, I thought it was a rough year, but I thought it was just me.

Free shipping on anything at Better World Books. Factored into my usual book buying, this means better prices than you-know-who, too. And, most of all, each purchase supports global literary. So please look them over.

My one regret is that I’ve known about these good people for years and never promoted them before. I’ll try to make up for that this year. They seem to have anything I’d buy from those people in Seattle, and what I can’t find there, I dig up on AbeBooks.com. Yay!

The groom is nervous
He answers twice.
It’s really thrilling
That he’s so willing
To make some whoopie.

“The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved an increase in the cost of a marriage license to $90 from $70. The cost of a so-called confidential license will rise to $85 from $70.

“According to a statement from the county, the fee hike will generate about $500,000 in additional revenue for the cash-strapped county government coffers between January and June.”
Cost of getting married in L.A. County is going up, by Shelby Grad, December 23, 2009

And if we’d legalized gay marriage, we could pay off the Schwarzendebt and live happily ever after forever and ever in lovely sunny California – a paradise on earth.

Dream on, Ginger, just dream the fuck on.

The Los Angeles DWP keeps saying it’s safe, it just tastes bad. But what do they really mean? (via)

I have an IMDb page for some music I allowed the director to use. What a crazy wonderful feeling. Yay!

“LAPD detectives won’t have far to go to investigate this crime. A credit union across the street from the new Los Angeles Police Department headquarters building was robbed this morning.

“Police said the bandit got away on a bicycle — with an unknown amount of cash.

“The Southland Credit Union in the 200 block of South Spring Street was robbed by a man with a ransom note at about 10:33 a.m., said Officer Gregory Baek.

“The suspect fled on a mountain bike southward on Spring Street.

“‘He took an undisclosed amount of cash,” Baek said. “The weapon used was a note.’”
Man on mountain bike robs credit union next to LAPD headquarters, By Shelby Grad, LAT, December 14, 2009

A mountain bike. Geeze.

Now on special introductory sale until December 31, 2009 for $11.00 and 10% off with this code: MPY7RN5U at this online store. Will be $15.00 in 2010

The Wizard’s Son
by Kathryn L. Ramage

From the back cover:

“‘His first vivid, visual impression was of Redmantyl standing over him in the morning sunlight, so tall and red and bright that the wizard had been burned into Orlan’s memory. Indeed, Orlan marked his life from that moment, when all the light and strength and wondrous magic of the world had stepped into his childish awareness. He believed he had known he belonged to that man, even before he knew who Lord Redmantyl was. Before that, there was nothing.

“‘That summer, he began to test the unyielding barrier which kept him from his childhood—his father’s spell, placed upon him years ago. Until now, he had accepted it: who would wish to look back on dirt and poverty and misery when he lived in an ivory castle of magic? Orlan had not tried to remember, but his visit to Storm Port made him attempt to recall a past which had been kept from him. He wanted to know about his mother and the life he had known with her at Lammouthe. Could the spell be broken? He was a magician of some skill himself. Surely he could undo this. He must know: what had he been before his father had brought him to Wizardes Cliff?’

“Orlan Lightesblood is the son of the world’s most powerful wizard and is training to become a wizard himself. But beyond his father’s castle, he is still an innocent youth, defenseless against the evil and temptations that threaten the future laid out for him. On an alternate earth filled with wonder and danger, the wizard’s son must overcome the demons of his own past and his father’s enemies to survive to manhood.”

Weaponized.

(via)

Weapon Brown and Blockhead’s War are so great they make me do the Snoopy dance. (How humiliating.)

“As of July 2009, California’s budget shortfall was 49.3% of its general funds. States have considered drastic options to fill such gaps.

“‘I looked as hard as I could at how states could declare bankruptcy,’ said Michael Genest, director of the California Department of Finance who is stepping down at the end of the year. ‘I literally looked at the federal constitution to see if there was a way for states to return to territory status.’ (Man, we really are a failed state if we pay creeps like this to do anything governmental.)

“There were no bankruptcy options, and the legislature chose to cut back sharply on education and health care to fill the gap. Mr. Genest already predicts the 2011 shortfall will outpace the projected $7 billion gap. It is a smaller deficit than this year’s gap, but the choices will be more difficult because so many cuts have already been made.

“Mr. Genest estimated that, eventually, 40% of the state’s budget would go to the state Medicaid program, 40% to education, 10% to debt service and 6% to retiree medical services and pension—leaving little left for anything else, such as the state’s corrections system.”
State Finance Directors Warn of More Trouble Ahead, by Sara Murry, WSJ, November 13, 2009

California has really got to:

~ Ban paid petition signature collectors
~ Make referendums more difficult
~ Change the State Constitution for a simple majority for legislative changes (it’s been 2/3 for too long)
~ Factor income into property taxes more than the assessed property value (they’re not as closely related as they might seem [to an idiot])
~ Get rid of the evil 3 strikes law
~ Take term limits off the Ledge (the State ran better when there were knowledgeable people there who had something to lose [yeah, I know everyone hates Willie Brown, but this meltdown didn’t happen on his watch)

No comments on this post. I’m in too much of a fuck you mood as it is.

Special price: $4.50 until December 1, 2009 when it will be $6.50. 10% discount code: E8D4M32G

Cover by Karl Christain Krumpholz
Erotica by Allison Yates, Lene Taylor, Frek Skolnik, Amy Throck*-Smythe, and Karmen Ghia

More information on this journal.

Special price: $4.50 until December 1, 2009 when it will be $7.50, for the 6×9″ version. 10% discount code: 7KH2YPLY

Cover by Raul De la Sota
Essays by Chris Floyd, Lyn Jensen, Steve Gimbel,
Josh Finnell, Paul Rodriguez, Chad Denton, Phila

(via but also youtube)

Let’s roll.

Bugliosi put Manson away, he can do this, too.

“Fairey himself admitted that he didn’t use The Associated Press photo of Obama seated next to actor George Clooney he originally said his work was based on — which he claimed would have been covered under “fair use,” the legal claim that copyrighted work can be used without having to pay for it.

“Instead he used a picture the news organization has claimed was his source — a solo picture of the future president seemingly closer to the iconic red, white and blue image of Obama, underlined with the caption ‘HOPE.’ Fairey said that he tried to cover up his error by submitting false images and deleting others.

“The distinction is critical because fair use can sometimes be determined by how much of an original image or work was altered in the creation of a new work. If Fairey didn’t need to significantly alter the image he used — in this case the solo shot of Obama — then his claim could have been undermined. Fair use cases also may consider the market value of the copyrighted material and the intended use of the newly created work.

“‘Shepard Fairey has now been forced to admit that he sued the AP under false pretenses by lying about which AP photograph he used,” said AP vice president and general counsel Srinandan R. Kasi. “Mr. Fairey has also now admitted to the AP that he fabricated and attempted to destroy other evidence in an effort to bolster his fair use case and cover up his previous lies and omissions.’”

~snip~

“The “HOPE” image has appeared on countless posters, stickers and buttons. It has appeared in several books and in numerous museums, including a mixed-media stenciled collage version added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.”
Artist admits using key AP photo for ‘HOPE’ poster, AP, October 17, 2009 (pdf here because Yahoo doesn’t keep things long. (Sorry, AP, you know where to send the C&D letter)

I think Shep needs to grow up. HE sued the AP for a picture he used without permission? This guy wouldn’t last five minutes in the music industry.

I rather hope this won’t be the symbol of the Obama administration: taking other peoples ideas and disguising them badly as your own and then getting mad when you get called on the carpet for it. I like Obama; I don’t like Shepard Fairey.

Here’s the post this is updating:

“Most well known for his ‘Obey Giant’ street posters, Shepard Fairey has carefully nurtured a reputation as a heroic guerilla street artist waging a one man campaign against the corporate powers-that-be. Infantile posturing aside, Fairey’s art is problematic for another, more troubling reason – that of plagiarism.”
Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey, A critique by artist Mark Vallen
Written on the occasion of Fairey’s Los Angeles solo exhibition, Dec., 2007.

My respect and admiration for Mark Vallen grows every time he posts. And, yes, even things in the public domain have to be credited properly. It’s only right.

10% off with this code P4QUBBXL if you buy it here and eligible for Free Shipping at Amazon.

Storylandia 1
Kittycat Riley’s Last Stand, by Kelly S. Taylor; Not Quite a Prince, by Kathryn L. Ramage; More Minimalist Fiction, by Lene Taylor; Road Kill, by Lee Balan; Sunday Mornings, by Colleen Wylie; I, by Chad Denton; Practice, by Anne Valente; Don’t Stop Thinkin’ About Tomorrow, by Kitty Johnson
Cover: “Nacreous” by Hailaeos Troy, www.AntarcticPhotos.com.
https://www.createspace.com/3400139
10% off code: P4QUBBXL

Still seeking stories for the first issue of Erotique.

I’ve no idea why it’s taken me over 30 years to dig this song up, but there you have it. I’ve certainly been thinking about it off and on over the decades. I guess life got in the way. Oh well.

Part cyborg, all blockhead.

Jason…I…you…um…

I love these comics. Buy them. You’ll be glad you did. The first Weapon Brown, before Blockhead’s War, has a Christmas story in it.

I’m rounding up the last issue of the Journal of Bloglandia in its current format. If you have a blog essay you’d like considered, please send it in.

(via)

Yes.

Not all of us need the Public Option.

Blue Shield canceling policies illegally? The hell you say! But they do.

Burden of proof on the consumer not the insurer! Noooo! Yes.

Private insurance even fucks over conservatives, but only if they’re dying.

It’s so obvious, America, it hurts: just expand Medicare to cover anyone and everyone who asks for it. Are we really this stupid as a country and a people? Don’t answer that, okay?